Japan's Showa Denko to transfer businesses in 2012

20 October 2011 14:15[Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS)--Japanese chemical producer Showa Denko plans to transfer its agricultural film and industrial gas businesses to a subsidiary and affiliate company in 2012, a company source said on Thursday.

The producer will transfer its biodegradable agricultural film business to affiliate Greenpla Corp, a joint venture with polypropylene (PP) rope producer Dan Shoji and packaging material maker Strapack Corp on 1 January 2012, Showa Denko said in a statement.

Greenpla was established in August 2011 and it was scheduled to start operations on 1 November, according to Showa Denko.

Showa Denko’s industrial gas business would be transferred to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Showa Tansan, on 1 January 2012, the company said. When the transfer is completed, Showa Tansan would be renamed Showa Denko Gas Products, according to Showa Denko.

“We asked ourselves how we can better communicate with the customers [for the agricultural film and industrial gases]. We’ve concluded it would be best if our group companies, which are closer to the customers, operated the businesses,” the source said.

“For the industrial gas business, we, Showa Denko, are currently the manufacturer [of the products] and Showa Tansan is our business agent in ?xml:namespace>Japan. From next year, Showa Tansan would be the manufacturer. They have stronger sales functions [than Showa Denko],” the source said.

While Showa Denko manages the industrial gases plants operated by production companies in which Showa Denko has shares, the management would also be transferred to Showa Tansan, along with its stakes in the companies, the source said.

A total of yen (Y) 1.64bn ($21.4m, €15.5m) in fixed and liquid assets will be transferred to Showa Tansan, according to Showa Denko.

This includes the stakes in the manufacturers of the gases, the source said.

There will not be any assets to be transferred from Showa Denko to Greenpla, according to Showa Denko.